Churchill and the Islamic World: Orientalism, Empire and Diplomacy in the Middle EastWarren Dockter

Winston Churchill began his career as a junior officer and war correspondent in the North West borderlands of British India, and this experience was the beginning of his long relationship with the Islamic world. Overturning the widely-accepted consensus that Churchill was indifferent to, and even contemptuous of, matters concerning the Middle East, this book unravels Churchill's nuanced understanding of the edges of the British Empire.

Warren Dockter analyses the future Prime Minister's experiences of the East, including his work as Colonial Under-Secretary in the early 1900s, his relations with the Ottomans and conduct during the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915, his arguments with David Lloyd-George regarding Turkey, and his pragmatic support of Syria and Saudi Arabia during World War II. Challenging the popular depiction of Churchill as an ignorant imperialist when it came to the Middle East, Dockter suggests that his policy making was often more informed and relatively progressive when compared to the Orientalist prejudices of many of his contemporaries.

Book Details:

Warren Dockter is a Research Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge and lecturer at the University of London, Royal Holloway. He is a historian who studies British Imperialism and international relations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, especially concerning the Middle East. He is also an expert on Winston Churchill and is the Academic Officer for the International Churchill Society (UK) and a contributor to Churchillcentral.com and the Daily Telegraph.
Warren Dockter is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and gained his PhD at the University o...More about Warren Dockter

Book Reviews

"An enlightening and original account of an important and neglected aspect of Churchill s strategic and political world-view. It forces us to rethink what we know about the origins of the modern Middle East. Essential reading for Churchill scholars and general readers alike."Richard Toye, author of Churchill’s Empire and The Roar of the Lion Professor of Modern History, University of Exeter

"Warren Dockter has written the first comprehensive account of Churchill's lifelong and many-sided engagement with the Muslim world. Combining meticulous research with insight and imagination, he restores to its rightful place a theme of crucial importance for the assessment of the great man's character and career."Paul Addison, author of Churchill: The Unexpected Hero Honorary Fellow, University of Edinburgh

" A panoramic and insightful overview of Churchill's lifelong relationship with the Muslim world which reveals it to be both more complex and more interesting than is generally portrayed."Allen Packwood Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, University of Cambridge

"
[a] work of detailed scholarship...it shines an important light on Churchill and the Middle East."Oxford Times

"Re-establishes Churchill as a figure of key importance to the Islamic World in the Twentieth Century."Explaining History Podcast

"Timely and important, this book is necessary reading for anyone interested in the Middle East. A work of monumental scholarship."Boris Johnson, Mayor of London author of The Churchill Factor

"Dockter provides a balanced, persuasive assessment of Churchill’s outlook [on the Middle East]."Roland Quinault author of British Prime Ministers and Democracy: From Disraeli to Blair, History Today

"Dockter has written an admirably clear and well-organised account."Alan Mackie, Asian Affairs